


Man Made Madness

by stelleappese



Series: Wallander [5]
Category: Wallander (UK TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Kidnapping, M/M, Torture, Violence, crazy people, no seriously angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-17
Updated: 2013-04-02
Packaged: 2017-12-05 15:01:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/724625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stelleappese/pseuds/stelleappese
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magnus disappears on his way to work. Kurt and the rest of his colleagues do their best to find out what happened.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is not really triggering (I guess), but there will be some gruesome stuff later on. I'm not entirely sure this fic is finished yet, I'll post some more as soon as I find the time to re-read the second chapter.  
> As always, feel free to point out any mistake/weird stuff; and thank you to everyone who reads my fics, you're all awesome people \o/
> 
> (PS: This fic can be read as a stand-alone work, if you want to know more about how Kurt&Magnus got together, though, you can read [this](http://archiveofourown.org/works/565875) :D

The air, that night, was chilly and crisp, Ystad silent and still. The only noises that could be heard, at a couple of minutes from midnight, were steps –a pair steady and ginger, the other uncoordinated and dragged- and some cars passing by in the distance.  
Magnus pushed Kurt against the car, making sure he was keeping himself up, and put a hand in his pocket to fish the keys.  
“You're so very pretty, Magnus.”  
Slurred Kurt, with a little giggle, brushing his nose against Magnus' jaw.  
“Thank you, love.”  
“So very pretty...”  
“Here, get in the car. Watch your head...”  
Kurt let himself fall on the passenger seat with a little puff. Magnus crouched down a bit, fastening Kurt's seatbelt. Kurt pushed a kiss against Magnus' head. He held him still for a bit, breathing in the scent of his shampoo.  
“I'm sorry I always mess up everything.”  
He whispered, against his curly blond hair.  
“Don't fret about it.”  
Said Magnus, and, against all their rules, kissed him on the mouth, quick and intense. He smiled a little when he pulled away, and Kurt smiled back at him. He was still smiling when Magnus shut the door and gave him an amused look.

From time to time, the lights of a passing car would show Magnus' profile, make his hair shine. The radio was on, loud enough to soothe but not enough to hurt Kurt's head. A woman was singing something about the night being beautiful, and someone being the night. Kurt was feeling terribly drowsy and slightly nauseous, his eyes were burning, but he wanted to keep looking at him, didn't want to miss any of it.  
He fell asleep like that, his head turned towards Magnus, a little smile on his lips.

He woke up with a killer headache, feeling crumpled and heavy. It was drizzling. Thunders rumbled in the distance. The warm, fragrant smell of coffee filled the house.  
Kurt got up, went to the bathroom, washed his face.  
Magnus had already set the table when Kurt walked in the kitchen, and was cutting some bread on the counter. The first thing he did when he noticed Kurt was smiling and handing him a bottle of aspirin.  
“You look terrible.”  
He said, as a good-morning.  
Kurt grunted, taking the bottle and filling a glass with water.  
“I learned my lesson, stop bitching.”  
“I'm taking the piss out of you, you grumpy bastard. Now sit down and eat.”  
Said Magnus, that mischievous smirk of his curving the corners of his lips, making Kurt want to slap him and kiss him at the same time.

It had been a year since Magnus had moved in with Kurt. They had been together longer, obviously, but it had been a messy sort of situation, and they decided to celebrate the start of their life together instead of the first time Kurt sloppily, and also pretty drunkly, kissed Magnus, or that time when Magnus went to Mariagatan to make sure Kurt was all right and he ended up doing way more than simply comforting him.  
It had been a peculiar year. They were pretty different persons, they had kept clashing together for a while before they found their balance. But they understood each other way better than anybody else could, and that was enough.  
Their colleagues at the station didn't know about them, or at least so thought Kurt, and he wanted it to stay this way as long as he managed to keep it. He didn't want their relationship to have any impact on their work. He was pretty sure sooner or later Magnus, with his bloody big mouth, would end up talking too much and expose them, but he hoped it would take a while.

“Don't forget Jussi.”  
Said Magnus, getting his coat on and grabbing his keys.  
“Also, just in case I forget about it, we're out of milk. And we need to buy new toothbrushes.”  
Kurt nodded. He grabbed Magnus before he could step out and pulled him in for a kiss.  
“I'll make it up to you. I promise.”  
He whispered, so close to Magnus' mouth their lips brushed together when he spoke. He could see the little smile in Magnus' pale blue eyes.  
“I'm counting on that.”  
Purred Magnus, brushing his lips against Kurt's, teasing, and moving away when Kurt tried to kiss him again. He winked at Kurt before stepping outside.

Jussi cheerfully jumped in the car. Kurt felt a bit wounded that she would be so keen to meet Ebba, but there was no way he would leave Jussi alone while he and Magnus worked, and Ebba was really fond of the pup.  
He arrived to the station a bit before eight, left a really happy Jussi with Ebba, and went to his office. There was a little pile of papers and mail on his desk. Kurt stared at it while taking his jacket off, decided he would have some more coffee before plunging into his work.  
Ann-Britt smiled at him when he walked by, she couldn't say hello because she was talking on the phone, so she waved at him, and Kurt waved back. He instinctively looked for Magnus, but he was nowhere to be seen, probably buried in some archive, looking for something.  
He took his -extremely bitter and extremely disgusting- coffee back to his office, sat down, and started going through the papers.  
He'd been at it for a couple of seconds when something caught his eye.  
There was, hidden between an official communication and an invitation to some lecture, a small, white envelope. The lack of a stamp had caught Kurt's attention, how perfectly clean and smooth the letter looked, like nobody had ever touched it before, certainly not like it had passed from hand to hand until it reached him.  
He called Ebba and asked about it. She said she'd found it on her desk when she came in that morning. Kurt frowned.  
He used a paper towel to pick it up and examine it. There was no clue on where the hell it came from. The only word on it was Kurt's last name, written in sharp block letters.  
Kurt swallowed. He thought about calling Magnus, Ann-Britt, maybe Nyberg if he was already in. Suddenly, he was scared. The envelope was too light. It didn't look like it contained a letter.  
He stood up and went out of his office, reached Ann-Britt, who was done talking at the phone, and showed her the envelope.  
“Was it delivered by hand?”  
“Apparently. But Ebba wasn't here when it arrived.”  
“What's in it?”  
“I don't know.”  
Ann-Britt looked at him. He knew she understood his fear, that's why he went to her, and he also knew she wouldn't make too much fuss about Kurt being an idiot for nothing.  
“Let's have a look, then.”  
She opened the envelope and peeked in. Her expression went from confusion to a slight, cold, alarm. She used a pen to pick up the content of the envelope and raised it for Kurt's to see.  
A long, thick, curl of blond hair.

Kurt didn't say anything for a second. He looked at the lock of hair, and he just couldn't make sense of it. Then his heart started racing.  
“Where is Magnus?”  
“He's not in yet. Why?”  
“He should be in.”  
“He's not, I've checked. Maybe he's sick, you know how easily he gets colds.”  
“He's not sick, he should be in.”  
Repeated Kurt, and went for Magnus' office. Ann-Britt followed him.  
“You don't know that's his hair.”  
“I don't know that it isn't.”  
Magnus' office was empty. His mail wasn't on the desk, Magnus picked it up personally as soon as he got there. So he never made it to the station in the first place.  
Kurt fished his phone from his pocket and tried to call Magnus, but his phone was off.  
He started feeling sick. He told himself to calm down, it was probably nothing, Magnus was probably doing something completely normal, and the envelope had been a prank.  
“Keep calling him. And call Nyberg to examine that envelope.”  
He ordered. Ann-Britt nodded and tried ringing Magnus with her own phone, while Kurt ran to Ebba's desk.  
“The cameras are on round the clock, right?”  
“Of course they are.”  
“I need to see this morning's tape. Now, Ebba.”  
Ebba jumped a little and shot him a worried look, but called somebody all the same.

Half an hour later, Magnus was still missing, his phone was still off, and Kurt was on the verge of smashing something against a wall.  
The tape showed somebody, a kid, probably thirteen or fourteen, running inside the station, looking around, circumspect, leaving the envelope on Ebba's desk, and running outside again. There was no trace of Magnus.  
“They probably paid him to deliver it.”  
Said Nyberg.  
“He could've seen something.”  
Muttered Kurt, pacing the room. There was no sign of Magnus in the tape. He'd definitely never got to the station.  
“Look for him. And ask for the tapes of the buildings close-by, they could've got something we could use.”  
Ann-Britt nodded and got to work. Nyberg looked at him.  
“You know, we have no actual proof this is Martinsson's hair.”  
“Then get on with it, will you?”  
Snarled Kurt. His head was starting to ache again.

Nyberg had checked the prints on the envelope. He found two sets probably belonging to Ebba and the kid that had delivered it. He said the DNA tests would take a bit longer, and that he had pulled some strings to get it done as soon as possible.  
The kid was nowhere to be found, and Ann-Britt was watching the tapes from the buildings around the station. It had been about an hour since she started, and still had nothing.  
Ebba had called all the hospitals in the area, but found out nothing.  
Lisa had, at first, thought they were wasting their time and Magnus would probably show up, but she was starting to get worried too.  
“If we don't find the kid we have nothing. And even if we do find him, we can't be sure he knows anything.”  
Sighed Kurt.  
Then Peters ran inside the meeting room, panting.  
“I found Martinsson's car.”  
He said, and Kurt and Nyberg stood up at once.

It was parked in a secondary street, locked. Kurt looked around, feverishly.  
He noticed the sign for a camera on the window of a bookshop right in front of Magnus' car and ran inside.  
“Kurt Wallander, Ystad police.”  
He said, to the clerk, showing him the badge.  
“I need to see the tapes.”  
The girl hesitated, but the look on Kurt face must've made her change her mind. She made Kurt get behind the counter and asked him what exactly he was looking for.  
Magnus had left home at about seven. It couldn't have taken him more than fifteen minutes, twenty at best, to get to Ystad. And there he was, at a quarter past seven, getting out of the car and walking down the road, then coming back a couple of minutes later, leaving something inside the car, and locking it again. He looked up, frowned, then his face distended, like he recognised someone. He nodded, put the keys in his pocket, and crossed the road, disappearing from the shot.  
“I'm going to need this.”  
“I'll have to ask the owner...”  
“This is _urgent_.”  
He hissed.  
“You can tell the owner to come talk to me if he has any complaints. Otherwise you would be interfering with the course of justice.”  
He wasn't completely sure that was true, to be honest, he could've already put her into troubles by asking for her help instead then waiting for the owner of the shop, but he didn't give a damn.

When Kurt stepped outside Nyberg had managed to unlock Magnus' car. He didn't ask him how he'd done it.  
“I don't think there will be anything of use in there.”  
He said, then remembered Magnus had left something on the passenger seat and went to check. It was a paper bag with two brand new toothbrushes in it.  
Kurt felt like something was trying to crush his ribcage from the inside.  
“Found anything?”  
Asked Nyberg. Kurt blinked a couple of times, trying to calm down.  
“He got here around seven fifteen. He went down the road... probably to the shop on the corner, to buy these. Then he came back, he left the bag in the car, saw someone across the street, somebody he knew, and crossed the road to get to them.”  
Said Kurt. He waved the cd the clerk had given him. Nyberg gave him a nod.  
“I sent Peters to ask around the street to see if they've got any other tapes. I don't think there's anything we can do here. We should probably go check his flat.”  
“He doesn't live there any more.”  
Said Kurt, and crossed the road in the direction he saw Magnus walking in the tape. He reached a little car park and looked around. There were signs of tires on the ground, but it was expected in such a place. Bottles of beer in a corner, a flyer completely plastered to the floor. Kurt was about to turn around and leave when he noticed the mobile phone left on the pavement, smashed.

“So we know he walked away voluntarily.”  
Said Lisa.  
“No, we don't. We know he saw somebody he recognised and followed them, that's all. He must have reached the car park on his own feet, then someone probably coerced him into a car.”  
Kurt swallowed, had to curl his hands into fists to keep them from shaking.  
“He would've fought. I mean, he's a crane of a man...”  
“Yes. Maybe that's why whoever took him made sure to be recognised. Maybe they thought they couldn't get him to follow them with force. Also, they must've had the time to smash the phone, that probably happened after Magnus had already been subdued.”  
Speculated Ann-Britt.  
“Then they cut off his hair, put it in an envelope, and had it delivered here.”  
Murmured Kurt.  
“Why would they do such a thing?”  
“Maybe they have a grudge against him.”  
“If the grudge was against him they wouldn't have left us anything. I still think maybe we should check Magnus' house, though, maybe we can find something there.”  
“You won't find anything there.”  
Answered Kurt, miserably.  
“Why are you so sure about it?”  
“He lives with me.”  
He whispered. He almost _felt_ the looks Nyberg, Ann-Britt, and Lisa were exchanging.  
“All right. When have you last been in his room?”  
Kurt looked at Nyberg and frowned.  
“What?”  
“I'm just saying.”  
“This morning, I guess.”  
“And nothing was out of the ordinary.”  
“No, everything was fine.”  
“How did Magnus act?”  
“He acted normally, he made breakfast, told me we were out of milk and had to buy toothbrushes and he left, that's all.”  
“All right. How well do you know him?”  
Said Lisa.  
“Why?”  
“Because then maybe you could tell us something we're missing.”  
“I know him well, but I tell you, there was nothing weird about him this morning, or recently, or ever, really.”  
Ann-Britt put a hand on Kurt's forearm.  
“Kurt, is there anything we need to know?”  
She asked, looking straight at him, and Kurt was perfectly sure she knew. He thought about telling somebody to give her a promotion, because she was the less clueless agent in the whole station.  
“It's my fault, isn't it?”  
He asked, instead of answering.  
“He has no family in Ystad, and even if he had, it's only his mother and brother, and they're clean. It's because of me? Of something I've done?”  
“Kurt, you don't know that...”  
“What else could it be?”  
He bit the inside of his cheek, trying not to cry, because even though he held some sort of record of tears shed in the station, he still couldn't manage to do it in front of Ann-Britt and not feel like crap for being so weak.  
“He's too young to have enemies himself. Me, I've been doing this job for decades, I'm sure there's plenty of people who would want to hurt me.”  
“Then why would they take Martinsson and not, say, just kill you?”  
Asked Nyberg. Ann-Britt shoot him a murderous look, and he raised both his hands in front of his chest and shut up.  
“Can you think of anybody in particular?”  
Went on Ann-Britt.  
Kurt shook his head.  
“There's no criminal in Ystad there hasn't been arrested by Kurt at least once. It would be easier to ask him if there's any thug left that still doesn't want to put a bullet through his head.”  
Snorted Nyberg.  
“There's nothing we can do until they contact us.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter could be triggering!
> 
> Let me know what you think :)

Magnus woke up abruptly, gasping for air. He had no idea where he was, or how he got there. The light was so bright it hurt his eyes. He realised, with a sharp jolt of fear, that his hands and feet had been tied, and that he could taste blood on his tongue.  
He blinked, hard, trying to get used to the light, but it was no use. He squinted his eyes, and something hit him in the face. He yelped, taken off guard, and lost his balance, falling on his side.  
“Wallander has good taste.”  
Said a voice Magnus didn't recognise.  
“I can't say the same thing about you, however.”  
“What do you want from me?”  
Asked Magnus, gingerly, his body tense and ready to give whoever that woman was a fight.  
She kicked him in the stomach, pushing the air out of his lungs. Magnus bit his lips not to groan.  
“Ask nicely, filth.”  
Magnus breathed slowly and rose a bit, unsure whether he should be more bloody mad or scared out of his wits.  
“What do you want from me, _m'am_?”  
He hissed.  
“That's better.”  
Answered the woman, but she didn't add anything else.  
“You know you don't have to do this, right?”  
Said Magnus, slowly.  
“You just need to tell me what you need, and I'll vouch for you.”  
“Really?”  
She sounded amused. Magnus swallowed.  
“Yes. I can get you a deal, but you need to cooperate.”  
The woman grabbed him by the hair and slammed him down against the floor. Magnus tried to fight back, but he felt dizzy and nauseous, and the woman managed to immobilise him.  
“Get off me!”  
He yelled. She grabbed his wrists, held them still with a hand, and swung down with something.  
Magnus screamed. A white-hot pain exploded in his hand, crawling up his arm. He cursed loudly.  
She kept his head down with a hand and pressed against his hurt hand with the other, making him scream again.  
“Watch your mouth, boy.”  
She said, her voice completely blank.  
“And don't you dare presume you know me.”  
She got up, leaving Magnus shaking on the floor.

Magnus had cuddled up in a corner. He was pretty sure his hand was broken. It was swollen and he couldn't close his fist, and it hurt like hell. He knew he should've immobilised it, possibly kept it elevated, but he had no way to do that. He felt so bloody weak. He had no idea how long he'd been in that room.  
He'd come to the conclusion the light was excessively bright on purpose. The room had been painted white, too. There were no windows, just a door, white as well. No bed, no toilet, nothing.  
For some reason Magnus thought of the toothbrushes in his car.  
What would Kurt think? There was no way he could know where he was.  
He tried to remember what happened to him. He saw a woman he knew, and old lady. He used to meet her frequently back when he lived in Ystad, and always met her when he went shopping. She'd told him she lived nearby. She told him her car had broke down, he went to take a look, and then...  
He had no idea what had happened next.  
He hoped Kurt would be all right. He hoped he would find him. No, he was sure he would. He just needed to wait, to hold on. Kurt would find him.

The hours went by, or so it looked. Magnus had no idea how to be sure. He was hungry, and needed to go to the bathroom. His hand hurt when he moved it, but it had lost sensitivity and just throbbed dully if he left it alone. He hoped it wasn't something serious. He tried to sleep, but the light made it difficult to do so. His eyes were burning, and it didn't stop when he closed them either.  
After a while, it was probably already night, considering how cold it was, the woman came back. She was holding a pack of ice. She walked towards Magnus and looked down at him.  
“I'm guessing you need this.”  
She said, and swung it in front of his face. Magnus didn't answer. She kicked him.  
“Do you need this, boy?”  
“Yes.”  
Answered Magnus, his throat dry.  
“Does your hand hurt?”  
“Not that much.”  
“Really?”  
She stomped on it. Magnus thought he was going to faint. The jolt of pain that went through him was so intense he started sweating.  
“It looks really painful to me. Let's do this...”  
She took her boot off of Magnus' hand.  
“Lick my boot and I'll give you the ice.”  
Magnus spit at her, and was rewarded with more kicks, this time in the back, because he curled up and turned to protect his injured hand.  
“You'd better behave. There's only so much somebody's body can take before it stops working.”  
“Fuck you.”  
She grabbed his hair again and started tugging. Magnus whined and scrambled on his knees to get the pain to stop, and she pushed him. He landed on his hands, hard, and his vision went white for a second. He was just starting to gain some strength and thinking about how to subdue her when she started hitting him, hard, against his back. The first few blows left him breathless, but pretty soon it was just sharp, burning pain. He gritted his teeth and tried to hold on, told himself it would be over soon, and hoped she didn't notice the tears streaming down his face, or the way he was shaking.  
“You will obey me.”  
She said, as she walked out.  
Magnus thought about rolling on his side, trying to get his hands out of under his body, but he lost conscience before he could do it.

Magnus dreamed of being home. His old home, his mother's home. Everything was filled with light, and Magnus was walking from room to room, looking for something. He realised he was looking for Kurt, but wasn't sure what Kurt could've been doing there.  
He felt something move around him, but there was too much light, he couldn't see properly.  
“Kurt?”  
He asked.

He regained consciousness when the woman poured water on him. He was stiff, aching all over. He couldn't get up, so she forced him up and pushed him against the wall. He whimpered when his mangled back hit the wall.  
“Are you feeling more _cooperative_ , Detective?”  
Magnus didn't answer. She raised her hand to hit him.  
“Yes!”  
He squeaked, feeling deeply ashamed of himself.  
She lowered her hand.  
“Good boy. I will take a video of you, and you will say exactly what I tell you to. Is that clear?”  
Magnus nodded.  
“I can't hear you.”  
“Yes.”  
“Perfect. Hold this up.”  
She gave him a newspaper.  
He did everything she told him to do, even though he didn't understand what the things she told him to repeat meant. When she was satisfied, she threw Magnus the ice pack and left.  
Magnus pressed it against his hand with a sigh of relief.  
He closed his eyes, but the light was still too bright for him to sleep. His stomach growled. He wondered whether Kurt had eaten or not. He had to be careful with his diabetes. He wished he could talk to him. 

To think he'd been teasing him just that morning -yesterday morning?-, just to annoy him. He wished he'd kissed him properly before leaving home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter makes sense, I'm not feeling very well and I could very well have written a ton of nonsense xD

Kurt hadn't slept at all. He knew he couldn't do anything except wait, and he tried working on something else, but he couldn't concentrate.  
They still hadn't found the kid. The fingerprints on the envelope were Ebba's, and the other set wasn't in the database. Nyberg had also checked Magnus' phone, and only found his fingerprints, and Kurt's. Ann-Britt and Kurt had spent the night watching the tapes from the shops nearby Magnus' car, but got nothing out of it.

Around dawn, an envelope was delivered to the station.  
Ebba took it to Kurt personally. He opened it, picked up a cd and a something wrapped in a little piece of paper. Ann-Britt hurried putting the cd in her laptop, as Kurt unwrapped the paper. He stopped halfway through it, though, when the video started and Magnus appeared on the screen.  
 _'You didn't stop it the first time. You won't do it this time.'_  
Said Magnus.  
He looked so pale. His face was crusted with blood, and he looked exhausted.  
“What is that supposed to mean?”  
Said Nyberg.  
“He looks terrible.”  
Whispered Kurt.  
Ann-Britt made to say something, but Nyberg cut her off.  
“What's that?”  
Kurt looked at the piece of paper. He tugged it open and little ring tied to a chain fell out.  
“What is it?”  
Asked Ann-Britt.  
Kurt swallowed. He couldn't talk, so he took off his tie and reached for the chain around his own neck. He pulled it up to show them the ring.  
“We bought them two days ago.”  
He said. Nyberg frowned.  
“I don't get it.”  
“We celebrated a year since he moved in with me. We weren't sure what we should celebrate, so we chose that.”  
“Wait. You and Martinsson are...?”  
“Yes, Nyberg, we're having sex. Bloody hell, do I need to show you some pictures?”  
That sounded weird. Nyberg looked pretty scared.  
“I thought for sure you were a ladies' man.”  
“I am. I was. I don't know, it's been just Magnus. It is just Magnus. I mean...”  
He sighed and decided to ignore Nyberg.  
“This video tells us nothing.”  
“It tells us he's still alive.”  
Said Ann-Britt, pointing at the date on the newspaper.  
“Why do they keep sending you things belonging to him?”  
“They probably want to keep me... on my...”  
He frowned.  
“A lock of hair, and the ring. The necklace. They said it happened before. A lock of hair and a necklace.”  
He closed his eyes, tried to think.  
He knew he'd seen something like this before. Or maybe he'd read about it.  
A lock of hair and a necklace.  
“Stella Gunnarson.”  
He said.  
“It was years ago. It wasn't even my case, I'd just got here, it was Rydberg's case. I didn't work on it, but I went with him when he told the family that we'd found the body.”  
“Was Rydberg the only one working on it?”  
“Svedberg did some of the more technical stuff, I think. I'm not sure who was involved, but I think they're all gone now.”  
“So you're the only one left.”  
Said Nyberg.  
“And he's taken Martinsson because he wants your attention. Maybe he just wants to gloat. But it doesn't make sense. It's too personal. There's something wrong.”  
“Maybe.”  
Sighed Lisa.  
“But it's all we have.”

“Stella Gunnarson, 17, disappeared while walking home from school. She was kept captive for seven days or more. We don't know exactly how long, because the kidnapper sent three pictures, one on the first day, one on the third, one on the seventh, then stopped. During the week she was supposedly held captive, the kidnapper sent her family some of her belongings. A lock of hair, a necklace with a little cross pendant, a piece of her bloody shirt...”  
Ann-Britt stopped. She looked at Kurt, who was intensely staring away, trying to keep calm.  
“And two teeth. Then all contacts stopped. The body was found on a beach not far from here ten days after the kidnapping.”  
Nyberg rubbed his eyes.  
“Well, that tells us nothing. Any suspects?”  
“Three. One dead, one currently living in Denmark... The other one, Sven Blom, kind of disappeared right after the end of the investigation.”  
“Great. Perfect. Do we know anything that could help us in any way?”  
“If we did we would have solved the old case, don't you think?”  
Said Ann-Britt.  
“But we could start talking to the Gunnarsons, see if they've been contacted or something of the sort.”  
“I'll go.”  
Said Kurt.  
They all turned to look at him.  
“Kurt, you're too emotionally involved in this.”  
“Of course I'm emotionally involved, and I would be emotionally involved if it was you too, Lisa, or Ann-Britt, or Nyberg. Magnus is my man when we're home, and my colleague when we're at work, I've got responsibilities towards him, just as I would towards you.”  
“I'm coming with you.”  
Said Ann-Britt.  
“Good.”  
Mumbled Kurt, and grabbed his coat.

Astrid Gunnarson, Stella's mother, lived in a house in the country. She'd left the city, she said, after he husband died, some years before.  
She offered them tea, but they politely refused it.  
“We're really sorry to ask this of you, but did anything out of order happen of late?”  
Asked Ann-Britt.  
“Nothing really happens out here.”  
She answered.  
“I can't even remember the last time I had company.”  
“Any weird calls, mail...?”  
Astrid Gunnarson shook her head.  
“Nothing at all.”  
“I remember you often went to see Doctor Svensson. Am I wrong?”  
Asked Kurt.  
“No, you're not. I couldn't let go, to be really quite honest. I wanted to understand. My late husband persuaded me to stop, though.”  
“Understand.”  
Said Kurt, to himself. He guessed it was normal. Trying to rationalise something so traumatic. The only difference between Stella Gunnarson and Magnus was that it was nobody's fault that she was picked, but it was Kurt's fault that bastard had chosen Magnus.  
“Kurt?”  
He looked at Ann-Britt, a bit startled. She looked worried.  
“Right. I'm sorry.”  
“May I ask what this is about?”  
Said Astrid Gunnarson.  
“A colleague of ours has been kidnapped. The M.O. seems the same of your daughter's kidnapping.”  
Explained Ann-Britt.  
“I'm really sorry. If there's anything I can do to help...”  
“We'll probably be contacting you again. Thank you for your cooperation.”  
Smiled Ann-Britt, and stood up. Kurt mirrored her actions, following her outside, his head clouded, going over what he knew over and over and over.

*°*°*°*

Magnus thought he should start planning an escape, but his body felt heavy, his head light. His thoughts were confused, they kept racing one after the other, without any connection.  
He was so bloody hungry. He kept seeing things, too, little crawling things in the corner of his eyes, but he knew it was because of his lack of sleep.  
He'd tried going through what he'd learned at police academy and his years of service, but everything was a blur.  
He remembered attending to a lecture with Kurt, during his first year in Ystad. It was a lecture about serial killers. Magnus remembered the criminology professor, a really attractive middle aged woman from America, talking about how, if in the hands of a delusional psycho, people should try and understand what he wants, and avoid giving it to him as long as they could. Or was it the other way around? Was it trying to figure out what he wanted and giving it to him? He didn't remember. He'd been watching Kurt the whole time, after all, trying to figure _him_ out. He giggled by himself. Kurt had _loathed_ him, back then. He thought Magnus was incompetent and superficial. He used to get so annoyed when he had to work with him.  
He wondered when exactly he'd made Kurt change his mind. He made a point to ask him.

The woman stepped in the room with a plate and a bottle of water.  
She made him drink, holding the bottle for him.  
“Are you hungry?”  
She asked. Magnus blinked at her.  
She crouched down an picked a knife out of her boot, pointed it at his throat. Magnus froze, looked at her, his heart racing.  
“I suggest you behave if you don't want me to whip you again. Or worse.”  
“I'm sorry.”  
Murmured Magnus.  
“I am hungry.”  
“Well, you know what to do, then.”  
She said, pointing at her boot.  
He wasn't sure what to do. He could either defy her again, get hit some more, and go on starving, or do what she wanted and eat, try to gather some strength to attempt an escape.  
Well, he was already in bad shape, so what the hell.  
He turned his head and closed his eyes. She made a face and moved, grabbed the rope that bound his ankles, dragged him down.  
Magnus tried his best not to hit his head, but couldn't help his back slamming on the floor. He tried pulling his feet towards him, but she started whipping right away.  
He tried to be silent, but the pain was so piercing, it resonated all the way up to his knees, and pretty soon Magnus was screaming again.

He had no idea why, but she'd cut a piece of his shirt. There was a hole more or less the width of his hand above his stomach. Magnus curled op on his side, his face to the wall, his hands up against his forehead, so that his arms blocked the light. He managed to sleep for a while, but he woke up even more tired than before.  
There wasn't a single inch of his body that didn't hurt terribly.  
He'd never felt such an intense need to have Kurt next to him.  
He would think it was his fault. He knew Kurt, he had a tendency to feel guilty for things that were completely out of his control, and not notice when he actually should feel guilty about something.  
For some reason he remembered when Kurt had gotten back from his sick leave for the Torstensson case. How scared Kurt had been to look his way, how he'd asked for his permission every time he found something and wanted to follow that lead. He'd been so frail, back then, so bloody sad. Magnus couldn't stand the thought that Kurt could go back to that because of him.  
At the same time, there was a tiny voice on the back of his head asking him where the hell was Kurt, if he cared so much, what was so important to keep him from finding Magnus?  
He shooed the voice away with a snort. Kurt was a good man, and a good detective. If there was anyone in Ystad able to find him, it was Kurt.

“In case you're wondering, your man has been here.”  
Said the woman. Magnus looked at her, his heart slamming against his ribcage.  
“He's completely clueless. And terribly miserable. It was really really difficult, not laughing at him.”  
“Why are you doing this?”  
Murmured Magnus, his voice hoarse, his throat dry.  
“What did I ever do to you?”  
“You? You think to highly of yourself. You're really not that important to me.”  
“Then what...?”  
His head was spinning. He closed his eyes.  
“Is it Kurt, then?”  
She left, slamming the door.

There was no way Kurt could've done anything serious enough to justify such a reaction. He'd only ever shot at a man once in his life, and had a mental breakdown right after. He was so bloody tender-hearted he'd taken to bring food to the cats that lived in the cemetery every time he went to spend some time next to his father's grave. One time, while they were moving in the new house, he'd accidentally dropped a glass and Magnus cut his hand; Kurt had been so mortified it took Magnus all night to persuade him he wasn't mad at him.  
The woman was crazy, obviously, but even craziness must have some sort of pattern or something of the sort. She must think Kurt had done something wrong, and hate him for it. But what? It could've been anything.  
Magnus hoped really really hard that the woman was bluffing, that Kurt knew what he was doing.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short, the next one will be a bit longer :)  
> I hope you're enjoying the fic :D

“I found Sven Blom.”  
Announced Ann-Britt, dashing inside the meeting room.  
“He changed his name to Martin Olander, he lives in Malmö.”  
“We need to talk to him.”  
“I'll get my coat.”

There was something off about Sven Blom. He looked completely calm until Kurt and Ann-Britt identified themselves as police officers, then his eyes became shifty, distrustful.  
“There's no need to be nervous.”  
Said Ann-Britt.  
“We're just going to ask you some questions.”  
“About what?”  
“About the Gunnarson case.”  
He nodded, asked them to sit in the living room.  
“I'm going to make some coffee.”  
He told them. Kurt started walking around the room instead.  
He was looking at a picture of Sven Blom and a woman with dark hair when the first gunshot exploded, and had just took his gun out, nodding at Ann-Britt, tense, when the second one followed.  
Kurt led the way. He checked the kitchen, but there was nobody there. He noticed a trap-door, opened, probably leading to the cellar, or a pantry. Kurt walked down the stairs, slowly, followed by the loud thumping of his heart.  
There were two bodies on the floor. Sven Blom's, and a young woman's.

Lisa had taken the fall for him, this once. Malmö wasn't their jurisdiction, and they had no business investigating there without at least informing the local police department.  
Magnus was nowhere to be found.  
The autopsy showed no sign of sexual assault on the young woman, but it did show signs of torture and starvation. Ann-Britt found a box full of polaroids. Stella Gunnarson was in one of them.

“He felt cornered. He thought for sure to be safe, after all these years, and here we are, at his door, and he cracks.”  
Sighed Kurt, rubbing his eyes.  
“Maybe he's hidden Magnus somewhere else.”  
“He already had a victim. The old profile said the guy was probably a control freak. He got off on power, there was nothing sexual about it. He just wanted to break them, and once he managed to, he threw them away. Two people would have been too much to control at once.”  
“I don't think this guy had anything to do with Martinsson in the first place. Remember the video? He said 'the first time'. It meant whoever kidnapped Martinsson thought this psycho had only hit once.”  
Said Nyberg, and handed Kurt a cup of coffee.  
“How the hell did we not catch that bastard in the first place?”  
“His alibi for the kidnapping of Stella Gunnarson was sound. He was fishing with his wife, we had witnesses.”  
“She could've covered for him.”  
Kurt turned to look at Ann-Britt. She was looking at the file, thoughtful.  
“The witnesses said they saw the boat at sea, and that Ana Blom was sunbathing. She said he was with her, but what if she lied? What if he abused his wife just as much as he abused his victims?”  
“Why would anybody knowingly stay with such a piece of crap?”  
“Some people can't move on. It's not their fault. They think their love can change their abuser. Of course, it never works...”

Svartman walked in the room, looking even more confused than usual.  
“What is it?”  
Asked Kurt, since Svartman wasn't talking.  
“You know we have to sign when we check the old reports, yes? The ones we haven't digitally converted yet.”  
“Yes, I know, I work here too.”  
“Well, I was checking something out and I went there to sign, and...”  
He shrugged.  
“Martinsson signed about three months ago.”  
“That's his work, Svartman...”  
“No, I mean, he signed three months ago and wrote he was taking out, and then putting back, the Gunnarson file.”  
Kurt frowned.  
“Are you sure?”  
“I am. I checked twice. Here, see? Fifteenth of September, nine o'clock, put it back two hours later.”  
“Why would he do that?”  
Svartman shrugged.  
Kurt thanked him and went looking for Ann-Britt.

“He checked the file. Why would he check the file? It had nothing to do with him, and he would've mentioned it to me if it was important...”  
Ann-Britt shook her head.  
“We can check the tapes from that date, if we can still find them.”  
“He knew his kidnapper. Or at least, he knew whoever lured him to them. He'd seen them before...”  
There was something Kurt was missing. He knew he was close to finding something out, but he couldn't wrap his head around it.  
“And he'd also read the Gunnarson file... There's obviously some sort of connection...”  
It had been three days already. He needed to hurry up, to find Magnus before they could...  
He ignored the thought. Tried to concentrate. He needed to let go of the awful feeling he would fail, and...  
Let go. He needed to let go.  
“Magnus talks too much.”  
He said.  
“He always tries to be helpful and ends up saying too much. What if someone _asked_ to see the file? It wouldn't be the first time Magnus did something like that.”  
“You're thinking about Astrid Gunnarson.”  
Guessed Ann-Britt.  
“You mentioned something about her talking to somebody...?”  
“Yes. Doctor Svensson. He was the coroner back then. He died three years ago in a car-crash. He used to complain to Rydberg about Astrid Gunnarson always dropping by and asking him questions.”  
“She didn't mention talking to anybody else at the station, though.”  
“Well, she wouldn't, would she?”  
Muttered Kurt, feeling uneasy.  
“We need to talk to her again.”  
“You think a woman her age could subdue someone like Magnus?”  
“No, but she could've had some help.”

“Yes, I remember him.”  
Astrid Gunnarson was terribly calm. Kurt had a bad feeling about the whole situation.  
“I knew him by sight. I didn't know he was a police officer, at first, then he told me himself, and I asked if he could show me the report on my daughter's death. He wasn't sure, but I managed to convince him. I haven't seen him since.”  
“Where were you last Tuesday morning?”  
“Here, as always.”  
“Do you have any witnesses?”  
“Of course I don't, I'm alone here.”  
Kurt shot a look at Ann-Britt, asked were the bathroom was, and stood up.  
He looked around, once he reached the bathroom, washed his face. The toothbrushes on the little cabinet made him think of the ones Magnus had bought. They were still in his car.

“We're going to need a warrant to search the house.”  
Kurt was already calling Lisa when he stopped dead outside the car, the phone still ringing. He hung up, looked at his feet.  
He knew something. Ha had no idea _what_ , but he knew something.  
What was it? What was off?  
He went through the whole conversation they just had, trying to figure out what the hell he was missing.  
“Kurt, are you all right?”  
What was he missing? There was something, he knew it, she was lying about something and he was perfectly sure she was.  
He felt his heart skip a beat. Ann-Britt put a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at her.  
“There were two toothbrushes in the bathroom.”  
He said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, I've been really sick for days and couldn't even get out of bed.  
> I hope you enjoyed this fic!

It was the missing piece of his shirt that made him realise it.  
She'd cut it out for a reason. At first, he'd thought maybe she wanted a trophy. It wasn't uncommon among that sort of people. But then he remembered the old lady.  
She'd asked him to read a report, once. She looked so desperate and frail, and Magnus hadn't seen how anything could go wrong. He almost hadn't read the report himself, but he was really curious by nature, and he'd skipped through it while bringing it back to the archive.  
A lock of hair, a necklace, a piece of shirt covered in blood, and two teeth.  
He had no way to check his hair, to see if it had been cut somewhere, but his ring was missing, and then a piece of his shirt.  
He didn't know the woman that had been torturing him, but she knew the old lady, Magnus was sure about it.

He'd been tugging at the ropes around his wrists for a long time. He'd managed to loosen them a bit, and had his hand not been so stiff and swollen he would've probably already managed to free himself.  
There was nothing he could use to cut the rope, and the only thing he could do was to keep chewing on it. Hopefully, the woman wouldn't notice.  
It took a while, and it hurt so much, wriggling his hands free, he almost thought he was going to be sick. He stood completely still for a second, breathing deeply, trying to calm down, to stop his stomach from turning.  
Untying his feet with just one hand was difficult, but it wasn't what worried him the most.  
He wasn't sure he could stand up. He was so weak, and his feet were aching and burning as it was, he could only imagine how much it would hurt to put his whole weight on them.  
Once his heartbeat slowed down he leaned against the wall, putting all his weight against his shoulder, and tried getting up. He fell on his knees almost immediately, his head spinning.  
He had no choice. He would only have one chance to run away. He needed to subdue the woman and leave, possibly locking her inside the room first. He had no idea where he was, he could have been in the basement of a building inside Ystad or in the middle of nowhere. 

He curled against the wall when he heard the door open. He waited, perfectly still, until the woman kicked his back to get his attention, then turned and jumped on her with all the strength he managed to gather. She yelped, dropped whatever she was carrying, and fell on the floor.  
Magnus ran out of the room, stabs of pain running up his legs, and closed the door, locking it. He couldn't see well at all, the outside was lit dimly, and leaving the bright lights of his prison for somewhere like that left him almost blind.  
He groped the wall with a hand, following it until he found a door, he opened it, and went out.  
It was raining lightly. Magnus tripped on the stairs, he crawled up slowly, blinking hard and feeling wet dirt under his hand once he got up top.  
His vision was getting better. He grabbed the railing and got up again, trying to figure out what he needed to do. For now, he just wanted to get as far as he could from there, so he started walking.  
He'd maybe covered fifty meters when she heard the woman yell at him. He tried to run, but he tripped again and fell on the muddy floor, right on his injured hand.  
The woman was on him in mere seconds. He grabbed his hair, pulled his head back. He felt the blade of her knife against his throat. He was vaguely aware he was shaking, and his heart was beating so fast it almost hurt.

“Drop your weapon!”  
Magnus opened his eyes, surprised. He thought maybe he was seeing things. Maybe he'd lost his mind. There was no way Kurt could actually be there, how would he know?  
But he was there, his gun pointed at the woman, his eyes cold. And she answered back to him, in a hiss. Magnus wanted to cry.  
“You first.”  
She said. She grabbed Magnus and made him stand up, the blade still at his throat.  
“Throw your gun to me, and I won't kill him.”  
“Don't do it, Kurt!”  
Said Magnus, and she grabbed his injured hand and squeezed, hard. Magnus swallowed a scream.  
“All right, all right. Take it easy.”  
Answered Kurt, raising his hands and lowering his gun.  
“Just leave him alone. He's got nothing to do with this, does he?”  
“Throw it this way.”  
Repeated the woman. Kurt obeyed.  
As soon as the gun reached them, the woman turned to Magnus. She looked at him, and he could see nothing human inside her eyes. They made his stomach knot. She noticed, he was sure. She pressed her lips together in a thin stern line, and stabbed him.  
Kurt screamed, and she let go of Magnus to point the knife at him. Magnus fell on his knees. At first it didn't hurt, not really. It felt like being punched. Then he felt the blood start gushing out.

He wasn't entirely sure what was going on any more.  
His head felt so light. He pressed his hurt hand against the wound, trying not to lose conscience.  
He saw Kurt get on his knees in front of the woman. He wanted him to fight. She would hurt him, why wasn't he fighting, god-dammit? Kurt was looking at her, talking quietly. He was _staring_ at her, straight in the eyes. Magnus couldn't hear a thing, but he saw her raise the knife, and he saw Kurt close his eyes.  
He panicked. He groped the floor until he found the gun, luckily already loaded, he pointed it, hoping to hit her somewhere, anywhere, and shoot.

*°*°*°*

Kurt flinched at the shot. He opened his eyes, shuddering lightly, to see his aggressor fall on the ground. He looked at Magnus. He was incredibly pale, and had deep dark marks around his eyes. He was shaking noticeably, holding Kurt's gun. He almost smiled, but then he lost grip on the gun and fell back down on the floor.  
Kurt scrambled up and ran towards him, picking him up and holding him.  
“It's all right, it's going to be fine.”  
He said, pushing his hand against the wound on Magnus' chest.  
Magnus just looked at him, breathing deeply. He rested his head against Kurt's shoulder.  
“Sorry...”  
He said, weakly.  
“Don't... Everything is fine, you're going to be fine, I promise.”  
Magnus nodded, struggling to keep his eyes open.  
Ann-Britt ran towards them, but stopped before reaching them.  
“Call an ambulance.”  
Said Kurt, and she did, right away.  
“Stay with me, love, I need you to talk to me, can you talk to me?”  
Magnus nodded again.  
“Anything. Tell me anything.”  
“I should've kissed you before leaving.”  
Said Magnus.  
Kurt told himself not to cry, to be strong for him. He had to, he owed it to him.  
“We've got time for that.”  
“Mh.”  
“Look at me. Magnus.”  
Magnus' eyes looked so tired. They were red and watery.  
“I promise you, you're going to be fine.”  
He could already hear the sirens getting closer.  
“It's not your fault.”  
Whispered Magnus, right before fainting. From somewhere inside the house, Astrid Gunnarson started screaming.

Kurt and Ann-Britt raced after the ambulance. Kurt was sure he'd never been so terrified in his entire life, not even when Linda's life was at stake, because he'd been scared to lose her, but this... He'd felt Magnus between his arms, so light and weak, so cold. He'd been in the position to save Linda's life, but Magnus' was out of his hands.  
He jumped out of the car and left Ann-Britt to park somewhere, followed the stretcher carrying Magnus along the corridor, up until they reached surgery, then the nurse stopped him.  
“Sir, I need you to wait here.”  
“I need...”  
“We'll keep you informed. Just sit here. Are you injured?”  
Kurt shook his head, let the young man push him down on a plastic chair.  
“I'm fine.”  
He whispered.  
“Is he going to be all right?”  
He added, looking up at the nurse.  
“We'll keep you informed.”  
Repeated the man. 

Ann-Britt reached him a couple of minutes later.  
“Is he in?”  
She asked, and Kurt really wanted to answer, instead he started crying. Ann-Britt sat down next to him, wrapped an arm around his shoulders and held him close.  
“It's all right.”  
She said, as Kurt sobbed without any restraint.  
“It's my fault. She said so, she said...”  
“You can't consider yourself guilty of something she made up in her own mind, Kurt.”  
“What if he...?”  
“He won't. He won't.”  
He could feel her hand brushing his hair, trying to soothe him.  
“Everything will be fine.”  
She said. Kurt really wanted to believe her.

It took two hours before someone went to talk to them. It was a doctor with grey hair and grey eyes.  
“Are you family?”  
He asked. Ann-Britt nodded before Kurt could answer.  
“He's family.”  
She said, pointing at Kurt.  
“Mister Martinsson has been incredibly lucky. Whoever stabbed him aimed to his heart, but they kept the blade in the wrong position, and it got stuck between the ribs. There is a small puncture of the lung, but it's not life threatening.”  
“Is he going to be all right?”  
Asked Kurt. The doctor nodded.  
“His life is not at risk, but he'll need to stay here for a while. He's got plenty of fractures and wounds, he'll need time to recovery.”  
“Can I see him?”  
“We're moving him to another room right now, you'll see him once we're done.”

Under the cold light of his hospital room, all of Magnus' bruises were more evident. His hand had been immobilised and bandaged, and he had a patch on his cheekbone. Kurt tried not to look at the purple bruises all over his arms. They'd sedated him to make him get some rest, and he'd been sleeping for hours. Ann-Britt first, then Nyberg and Lisa and even Svartman, had asked Kurt if he wanted to go home for a while, and told him they would stay with Magnus if he needed them to, but Kurt refused.  
He'd put two chairs together and got some sleep, but he kept waking up abruptly, terribly scared something horrible had happened, just to find Magnus still there, still peacefully asleep, his breath steady, his eyelashes trembling lightly.  
He rubbed his eyes, stretched a bit, and moved the chair closed to the bed. He touched Magnus' hand, tracing a little line against the back.  
“You look terrible.”  
Said Magnus. Kurt actually jumped, startled, and Magnus laughed a bit, but he stopped with an 'oww!', pressing his hand against his ribcage.  
“How are you feeling?”  
Asked Kurt, trying his best not to smile like an idiot an failing miserably.  
“Honestly? I've never felt worse in my entire life.”  
He groaned.  
“But you're here, so it's all right.”  
Kurt picked his hand in his and kissed the back of it, then his knuckles, then the palm, and, when Magnus brushed a thumb against his cheek, he also kissed his wrist.  
“If you ever scare me like that again I swear to God I'm going to kill you with my bare hands.”  
Whispered Kurt. Magnus raised an eyebrow.  
“Don't be so romantic, Kurt, you're going to make me cry.”  
He snorted, with a little smirk. Then he got serious, really really fast.  
“I meant it, you know. It wasn't your fault.”  
“It was. Maybe it wasn't properly my _fault_ , but it was because of me. The woman that kidnapped you was Rubina Gunnarson, she was Stella Gunnarson's little sister. Both her and her mother lost their head after Stella died, and it got worse after Stella's father died too. They spent a while looking for someone to take it out on. Then they saw us together. Do you remember last year, when I didn't want to go back to Mariagatan and I stayed with you in the flat?”  
Magnus nodded.  
“It must have been around that time. She said we were walking out of a restaurant, and you took my hand and kissed me. I was the only one left involved in the Gunnarson case, and they thought I didn't have the right to be happy, when I let Stella die.”  
“But you didn't.”  
Said Magnus.  
“It's not your fault that she died, and it's not your fault that I got kidnapped. It is, however, your fault that I'm still waiting for you to kiss me, so I'd say you take care of it, say, right now.”  
“I'm scared I'd hurt you.”  
Murmured Kurt.  
“There's really not much more damage you can do.”  
Answered Magnus, and grabbed him by the collar.

**Author's Note:**

> I sort of looked at my works and thought: "Damn, that's a lot of pwp", so I decided to write something with a proper plot. I tried to stay as true to the characters as I could. I hope this doesn't suck :P


End file.
